Seattle appreciation rates and housing market information

Seattle housing market information

With a population of 563,375, 270,536 total housing units (homes and apartments), and a median house value of $521,418, Seattle house prices are not only among the most expensive in Washington, Seattle real estate also is some of the most expensive in all of America.

single-family detached homes are the single most common housing type in Seattle, accounting for 49.13% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Seattle include large apartment complexes or high rise apartments (40.10%), duplexes, homes converted to apartments, or other small apartment buildings (8.08%), and a few row houses and other attached homes (2.19%).

People in Seattle primarily live in small (one, two, or no bedroom) single-family detached homes. Seattle has a mixture of owner-occupied and renter-occupied housing.

At the end of World War II, American soldiers returned home triumphant and, with the help of the GI Bill, built homes by the millions on the edges of America's cities. These homes were predominantly capes and ranches, modest in size, but built to house a growing middle-class as the 20th century became the American century. Seattle's housing was primarily built during this period, from the '40s through the '60s. A full 38.78% of the city's housing hails from this era. Other housing ages represented in Seattle include homes built between 1939 and earlier (32.44%), and housing constructed from 1970-1994 (23.52%). There's also some housing in Seattle built between 1995 and later (5.26%).

Seattle home appreciation rates

In the last 10 years, Seattle has experienced some of the highest home appreciation rates of any community in the nation. Seattle real estate appreciated 119.32% over the last ten years, which is an average annual home appreciation rate of 11.93%, putting Seattle in the top 10% nationally for real estate appreciation. If you are a home buyer or real estate investor, Seattle definitely has a track record of being one of the best long term real estate investments in America through the last ten years.

Over the last year, Seattle appreciation rates have trailed the rest of the nation. In the last twelve months, Seattle's appreciation rate has been -4.17%, which is lower than appreciation rates in most communities in America. In the latest quarter, NeighborhoodScout's data show that house appreciation rates in Seattle were at -1.16%, which equates to an annual appreciation rate of -4.64%.

Notably, Seattle's appreciation rate in the latest quarter is one of the lowest in America.

Relative to Washington, our data show that Seattle's latest annual appreciation rate is higher than 30% of the other cities and towns in Washington.

One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Seattle differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Seattle - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 1990, to assist you in making the best Seattle real estate investment or home purchase decisions.